***IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP ON THE BOOKS YOU PROBABLY ARENT GOING TO WANT TO READ ON IN THIS THREAD***

I know there are a lot of people here who read the books and/or watch the show. Just curious, who do you all think/want to win in the end and gain power of the kingdom?

Or, if you dont think one person will win full power, how do you think the book will end?

For me, i'm hoping that Jon Snow wins the throne and makes Samwell Tarly his hand. Make Arya the leader of the Kings Guard. My guess is that it will somehow come out that his mother was a Taerygareion (spelling?) so he's the rightful heir.

If not Jon I would love for it to be either Tyrion, Rickon or Stannis.

***SPOILER ALERT***BIG TIME***As far as Jon Snow is concerned, his mother was almost certainly NOT a targaryan. That said, there is some extremely compelling evidence that his father was Rhaegar Targaryan.This has been discussed in extreme depth on other forums, but it seems clear to me that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryan.That concept might be moot now, considering what happened to him at the end of book 5. I don't think his...current situation...is permanent. I could see Melisandre doing her best Thoros impression and helping Jon out a bit.

As far as your idea of Jon becoming king of Westeros, it could happen, but the rest of it will almost certainly not happen.First, Samwell is training to be a maester, so perhaps he could be Grand Maester, but not hand of the king. Also, there's no guarantee he even makes it through training, seeing as he is going to have to deal with a certain faceless man while he's in Oldtown.

Arya...well she's not on any sort of path toward knighthood. Nevermind the fact that she would have to accept the seven and renounce the old gods, she would also have to be the first female knight. Hers is a path of blood, and if she makes it through alive, I can't see her ever being at court.

What do I think will happen? Ugh...that's rough. I think Daenerys will play a key role in the whole thing. The dragon has three heads...perhaps her, Jon and...Tyrion? Interestingly, evidence points to the fact that all three lost their mothers in childbirth, and it's very possible that all three are Targaryans. Yes, there is evidence, though not as compelling as Jon's, that Tyrion may be the son of Aerys, the mad king.

So if I have to take a guess...Dany gets the throne, Tyrion is her hand, and Jon...perhaps he takes the north? Bran can't. I guarantee you, he's never coming south again. Not in his own body anyway. Rickon might end up the leader in the north, but I don't know. Sansa...hmmm...she could marry Harrold Hardyng and we could see the north, the vale and the riverlands rise to take back her birthright. That's what Littlefuinger says his plan is, and it makes sense, but he's not the most trustworthy person, so who knows. I still think he has designs on Sansa's maidenhood, myself.There are so many subplots and so much can happen, it's impossible to be confident about any of the guesses.Fun to talk about though!

LargentFan wrote:I will address this, but I want my own spoiler alert first.

***SPOILER ALERT***BIG TIME***As far as Jon Snow is concerned, his mother was almost certainly NOT a targaryan. That said, there is some extremely compelling evidence that his father was Rhaegar Targaryan.This has been discussed in extreme depth on other forums, but it seems clear to me that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryan. !

Jon Snow lives on in Ghost until Melisandre resurrects him. It turns out that he's the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, who were secretly wed when Lyanna was held captive. He weds his aunt, Daenerys Targaryen and assumes the Iron Throne after eradicating the Seven Kingdoms of House Lannister. Except for Tyrion Lannister, whom he names Hand. Samwell Tarly becomes Grand Maester.

You are absolutely entitled to state your opinion whenever you wish, and I am absolutely entitled to point out the stupidity of that opinion with the same frequency.

LargentFan wrote:I will address this, but I want my own spoiler alert first.

***SPOILER ALERT***BIG TIME***As far as Jon Snow is concerned, his mother was almost certainly NOT a targaryan. That said, there is some extremely compelling evidence that his father was Rhaegar Targaryan.This has been discussed in extreme depth on other forums, but it seems clear to me that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryan. !

Hm, i'd love to hear the evidence of this if you've got the time.

Evidence:

It starts with Ned Stark. He is haunted by Lyanna's words, "Promise me Ned."At first, it seems like it is in reference to him taking her body home to Winterfell. If that were so, I don't think those words would haunt him like they do through book 1.

Let's look at Robert's rebellion. Near the end, Rhaegar is dead, King's Landing has been taken, the siege on Storm's End has been lifted. The war is over. Ned and his 6 buddies ride to Dorne, to the Tower of Joy, to rescue Lyanna. She is being guarded by three members of the kingsguard. Ser Gerold Hightower, the lord commander, Ser Arthur Dayne, the consensus best knight in the seven kingdoms, and Ser Oswell Whent. Why would three members of the kingsguard, and arguably, the two most important, be at the tower of joy with Lyanna Stark? They are charged with keeping the king of the realm safe. Here is where we run into a series of ifs.

#1 If Rhaegar and Lyanna were married, any children of theirs would be legitimate heirs to the throne. This would require Rhaegar to be married to two women at the same time. There is precedent for this in the past. Aegon the Conqueror was married to two women at the same time(both his sisters...) Robert always claimed that Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna and raped her. This is unlikely, given what we know of Rhaegar. From Barristan Selmy, we learn that Rhaegar was a gentle soul who didn't appear to have any cruelty in him. This is backed up by Jon Connington, but seeing as Connington was in love with Rhaegar, his testimony is somewhat biased. Selmy, though, has no reason to be anything but truthful about who Rhaegar was, and he has nothing but great things to say about him. That hardly paints the picture of a rapist. It seems more likely that Rhaegar fell in love with Lyanna when they met at Harrenhal. Rhaegar won the tourney there and named Lyanna the queen of love and beauty, despite his own wife being present. Anyway, it seems like there was some romance brewing there.

#2 If Lyanna was pregnant with Rhaegar's son, that son would be the heir to the throne of Westeros. At this point, Rhaegar's son, Aegon, had been murdered(or so the world thought). This means his next son would have a stronger claim than Viserys or Daenerys, Rhaegar's siblings. Ned finds Lyanna daying in "a bed of blood" after he and Howland Reed narrowly survive battle with the knights of the kingsguard. This is where Lyanna says, "Promise me Ned." It seems more likely that this promise that has haunted him is of much higher importance. Imagine how Robert would react if he brought home Lyanna's baby...a legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryan who Robert hates. Do you think that child would be safe? We've seen how crazy Robert gets when it comes to Targaryans.Perhaps the promise is to do whatever it takes to save her child. He sacrificed his own honor to honor his sister's dying wish.

Anyway, there is a lot more evidence out there, but I have detailed the most compelling evidence.

LargentFan wrote:As far as Jon Snow is concerned, his mother was almost certainly NOT a targaryan. That said, there is some extremely compelling evidence that his father was Rhaegar Targaryan.This has been discussed in extreme depth on other forums, but it seems clear to me that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryan.That concept might be moot now, considering what happened to him at the end of book 5. I don't think his...current situation...is permanent. I could see Melisandre doing her best Thoros impression and helping Jon out a bit.

I'm buyin it.

I'm not trying to speculate too much on what I think's going to happen. I'm hoping for a scenario where everybody I like lives and flourishes and everybody I don't like dies and burns in hell but I know that's not likely.

Was everything in that wiki page in the book? Confused(which is normal for me).

As far as the main question, who will win? I couldn't even offer a guess, there's 2 books left right? So much more of the story to be told. I'll throw a name out there and swing for the fences. Rickon.

Long you live and high you fly, and smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry, and all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be

I don't really think that will be relevant. the game of thrones is just the name of the first book. the real story is the song of ice and fire. the others vs. the dragons. I think Dany is the 'prince who was promised' and she uses her dragons to defeat the Great other. Jon Snow will rule the North, Rickon doesn't matter, Bran becomes a wise greenseer in the far north and guards the northern watches for eternity. Tyrion somehow restores honor to house Lannister. the rest is just filler.

Just piss off. I'm sure Arya fills some obscure role. I LOVE her character, but it seems like he's squeezing her out of the main story for some reason. So many loose ends that have to be tied up in apparently only two books. i worry that Martin has let his world get the better of him.

Zebulon Dak wrote:I thought the series borderline jumped the shark at Tyrion in the circus. I'm still keeping faith in Mr. Martin.

Yeah, I'm just having a hard time with it. I'm about half way through Dance with Dragons and it seems that all of the story lines are diverging more instead of converging. there doesn't appear to be on solid direction that things are moving towards, and it's got me perturbed. Hopefully the Winds of Winter will start to tie up some of the looser ends and build towards a satisfying climax in A Dream of Spring.